Meet Gabriela Reyna | Illustrator, Convention Artist, Comic Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabriela Reyna and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabriela, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I came to a time when the pieces all kind of fell together. I reached my 30’s and felt like I needed to make a change, something that would challenge me. I was at a fork, I could return to university to pursue a different degree and go down that path, or stay and pursue my business dreams.

In the end, I was offered a full-time position as a graphic designer at my work and that gave me the push to pursue my goals. It would offer me the funds to kick-start things, and despite being full-time there would still be enough time to work on everything (Well mostly, some late nights are required).

As many who have jumped into starting a business know, initial costs are pretty steep, I knew I’d have to maintain a job to keep the boat afloat and steady. Combined with the experience I had, having already dipped my toes into selling items and creating merchandise, I felt I could take the next steps into fully diving in. It was all very, very new I had to research everything from what I needed legally to how I would be dragging my items across the state and potentially outside my state to vend at these conventions.

But it’s been very fun, stressful at times but worth all the work.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Where to begin?! I think all artists are overwhelmed by this question, we’re notoriously terrible at talking about ourselves.

I do feel a lot of excitement on the horizon as my art has only grown and improved since I began my journey, I have many projects and ideas in the works, and it’s only a matter of time…Literally, I need the time to do them! I think every year there will be more to captivate and inspire me. I am currently hard at work to finish new items for the upcoming year of conventions from original art, fan art, and comics. In the background, I’m learning about writing and storytelling, drafting up my next big project, a graphic novel.

The path to professionalism, I’d say, is a spectrum in art. It used to be narrowed to only those with a specific degree from a specific school, at least that’s what I thought when I was in high school in 2010. Now though, the options have opened up wildly, thanks to the internet and even social media the ability to become an employed and professional artist has expanded. The path that has led me here is a long winding one, and not an easy one in many ways. Artistic Resources were pretty limited during my teenhood, I tried to push myself to excel as much as I could but with limited funds, and knowledge it was tricky. Wacom was something only for professionals in studios and I could only learn from individuals I knew in real life and books I found in my library. Still, as an artist, it’s hard to push that passion away, you fight for it. I would watch movies like Spirited Away, press pause and draw the dragon, then play and pause again to draw that dragon. Sketchbooks were filled this way, I had to come up with different exercises to learn what I wanted.

I encountered a deep slump as I was having many difficulties in my early twenties juggling several personal issues, and it only took a high dive plunge into the worst when I got diagnosed with cancer at 23. Time froze for me and everything had to stop, my art, my goals, and my life. I learned a lot from that experience though, I learned time goes by very quickly and, not to be grim, you never know when your time is up. After I thankfully made a full recovery 6 years later I found myself in need of some catching up to do.

Luckily, we are in an era with a lot of artistic inspiration and education accessible to everyone, something I had been wishing for a decade before. With this I found my way into YouTube and Instagram, learning from other artists and finding strategies to improve my skills. I found webcomics and fell in love with storytelling, diving right in and creating one myself. This seems to be my strategy now, if there is something I want to learn or do, I will look for a way to do it. I wanted to learn to make my own merchandise bookmarks, stickers, and prints so I learned it. I wanted to learn how to sell these items at conventions, so I learned. There is so much information out there it’s only a matter of reaching out and discovering it.

The great Jake the Dog once said. “Suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something “This quote was hung on my desk, helping to assuage my fears of failure, grant me patience with myself, and allow me to enjoy the journey.

Don’t be afraid to try you will learn from the mistakes and mishaps, as artists we learn more from our messy sketchbooks and failed projects than anything else. We are constantly growing and I think we should embrace this idea of being lifelong students. That very idea is how I landed on my business WerexPuppy and its respective mascot, I needed an avatar to represent me and birthed this cute-looking critter, who as I explain to others, is like a werewolf but…puppy not just yet at its full form but working to get there.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
hahaha this seems like a question for someone in a more exciting area, I’m in what some may call a pass-through city between major cities like San Diego and Phoenix.

But I am nothing if not hospitable, and if we run in similar circles you will probably agree it’s the company, not the location.

Although I can’t take you to the Ritz, there are many locations with great food, ideally if you’re looking for Mexican food you can’t go wrong with a home-cooked dinner from my mother. As I and my co-worker say to others, if you want the best most authentic Mexican food, befriend someone with a Mexican mother and eat at their house. She can make the best Birria, Tamales, and Mole, better than any restaurant. We can pair this night with some board games and wine.

For a Night out I’d bless you with a visit to Da Boys a great Italian restaurant with amazing food and cocktails, I will 100% be ordering the Tiramisu, and moving on to the theater to catch a movie. We can discuss the befuddling idea of an outside mall in a city with 120 degree weather.

If you crave some early morning air, we can schedule a walk around the Wetlands park, some running from geese, and a place to catch our breath at the North End Cafe. They have the best atmosphere and their monthly themed coffees are an incredible treat. I will be insisting we get there early enough to order a jalapeno and cheese bagel.

There are many fun secret spots to enjoy a good conversation, fast food, and a lovely sunset in this city with its vast agricultural fields. I may not be able to offer the excitement of the cities surrounding my stomping grounds, but the comforting peacefulness of a familiar hometown is a gift in itself.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This could be an essay long answer-promise not to turn the music on to shoo me off the stage!

First and foremost I have to thank my mother, she’s been on my side to support my crazy dreams from the first day I dropped the bomb “Mom…I want to be an artist”. I can’t imagine as a single mom that was super reassuring. Regardless she stood solidly behind me, she helped me package items at 4am, gave me sympathetic and encouraging words when my Cameo broke two nights before a big convention, and at every moment I doubted myself. She’s been my partner in the journey driving us to these locations and despite being a fish out of water in this world of art, comics, and cartoons she tries to appreciate it all. I did watch her cancel the membership to her car insurance and haggle a deal with another amidst the chaos of one of these conventions. It was very inspiring!

I’d like to throw a lovely shout-out to my friends who have always inspired and encouraged my way along this journey. Many of whom I first met at these conventions, they welcomed me into the community and have all helped me so much. They share all their knowledge and are so open to sharing what they’ve learned, as well as giving advice on possible conventions to attend.

And before that music starts playing I’ll squeeze in a final thanks to my co-workers who are all so sweet and encouraging in my work, my little brother for menacingly reminding me to share and my cat who loves to sit in front on my computer while I’m working.

Website: https://tr.ee/xcwmXNqWKG

Instagram: instagram.com/werexpuppy

Twitter: twitter.com/werexpuppy

Other: First webcomic: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/welcome-to-wolfsgate/list?title_no=234147 Mailing List: https://mailchi.mp/c51c5b0077bc/werepuppygreetings